Amy Goodman and Juan González interview journalist Matt Taibbi about Trump’S election.
Key comment:
“MATT TAIBBI: Yeah, and I think that was kind of a big oversight by a lot of the media. Trump—look, how do politicians get elected? There’s a very simple formula that people on both sides have followed for ages. They tell people that, you know, things are bad, and we’re going to give you somebody to blame. You know, on the right, they’ve traditionally pointed the fingers at minorities and foreigners. And on the left, we point at corporations, you know, the pharma companies, insurance companies, etc., etc.
“Trump did all of those things. He appropriated all of those bogeymen, both the liberal and the conservative bogeymen, but he also made the campaign process itself a villain. He said, “These people, these reporters, these donors, these two entrenched political parties, they are against you.” And unfortunately for us reporters, we were the only people from that particular group who were actually in the room during these events. So what he would do is he would say, “Look at these people. Look at these bloodsuckers. You know, they’ve never come so far for an event. And they didn’t want to come. They all said I was going to lose,” etc., etc. And the crowds would physically turn toward us and start, you know, sort of hissing and booing. And he made us part of this kind of WWE act. And it was—in a way, it was brilliant theater. And I think that the people on the campaign plane didn’t understand the significance of what he was doing. He was villainizing the process. And it was really effective.”
About villainizing the Press–it’s second-hand fascism. If you cannot jail or kill journalists, then villainize them and get the people to hate them for you. It kills two birds with one stone–they cannot become martyrs, and no one listens to them (but it’s just his base–a smaller and smaller percentage?)
If the economy turns south, he will be abandoned faster than you can say dump Trump .
Right Wing deplorables don’t buy American . They want to make America great Again while waving the flag outside the window of their Toyota .
Their world view does not extend to empathy for others who have suffered injustice, for others devastated in this economy. It ends at their own front door.
They would cut his heart out if he ever put a tariff on their Walmart
shelves.
Lefties like me buy American cars and refuse to shop at Walmart or Target.
The first word in your post needs to be changed from “if” to “When”
Turns South?
You mean does a 360?
I would bet that the book has far more colorful language than his interview.
“If people are organized enough they can accomplish anything ”
GET OUT THERE ON SATURDAY AT A DEMONSTRATION NEAR YOU.
It takes the “sucker born every minute” to fall for the clown though. Funny thing, Ringling Brothers announced recently they’re going under. Apparently, they can’t compete with all the suckers who’ve fallen for reality TV, on one side, and all the animal rights activists on the other. That kinda shows where the real divide in this country is: it’s the ‘just for me’ suckers vs. the ‘let’s heal the world’ caregivers.
Goes to show just how wrong the free market peddlers are when they contend that competition is so wonderful because it produces the best outcomes. Sometimes it takes buying a whole lot of schlock from swindlers before the best from the good guys finally wins out.
Matt Taibibi: “… If any of this stuff about Russia is true, people need to do whatever they can to prevent him from becoming president, or at least try to get him impeached as quickly as possible.”
If we can’t keep Trump from becoming president on Friday, we won’t get an election do-over. Impeachment just means we will be stuck with Pence, an extreme right wing president…
Are the Democrats working their asses off to gather evidence and try to prevent the inauguration from happening on Friday, or are they just resigned to handing the country over to the Tea Party for at least four years?
Taibbi’s IF is 1000 font.
To answer your last two questions:
No
and
Yes (because anything else will cause a hell of a lot more unforeseen problems than we most likely can imagine-those ever ubiquitous unintended consequences)
“AMY GOODMAN: So, more than 40 years ago, your magazine, Rolling Stone, chronicled Nixon’s campaign in 1972. There are parallels, because you now have an inauguration where, well, just at this point, 42 congressmembers, Democratic congressmembers, like one in five, will not be attending. And that number may certainly go up. The only thing we saw—only time we saw anything like this was Nixon, 1972—1973, inauguration, in the midst of the war. It’s also a time when The Washington Post reports that Donald Trump’s popularity rating—more than 50 percent of the people are not happy with what he’s doing—is at a 40-year low.
MATT TAIBBI: Right.
I am very confundido by Goodman’s statement and Taibbi’s concurrence. Are they trying to say that Trump’s ‘popularity rating’ (which is a bullshit concept in my mind no matter who it’s used on) is at a forty year low for a president elect as he enters the White House? How can Trump’s rating with what ‘he’s doing’ be at a 40 year low?
The former.
“He actually ran a campaign ad, a 30-second campaign ad, very close to the election, that specifically mentioned Goldman and Wall Street banks.
And then he turns around right after the election, and he brings five people from Goldman Sachs, or four ex-Goldmanites and a Goldman lawyer, into the White House.”
SUCKERS! Everyone who voted for THEDonald, SUCKERS!
The worst part of life is believing in someone, getting sucked in, only to find out they will betray you in a heartbeat.
6 he added1 yesterday
Wasn’t there a recent Dem president who did exactly the same thing re Goldman Sachs? Didn’t GS bundle multi millions to finance the campaign of this community organizer, who got the whole world to buy into his populist message?
And then when he was elected, on day one, lo and behold, there were Larry Summers and Robert Rubin at his right and left sides…and Orszag, Fuhrman, et al, the GS boys club all appointed to his Cabinet. And then he chose the Wall Street lawyers and economists to run the DoJ, the SEC, the FED..and though not a GS guy, seems I remember a woman named Spelling who was as ill suited as DeVos to run her department.
But then, this tall handsome Patrician Chicago guy was not a crazy clown nor a billionaire megalomaniac, and at least his had a brain and a heart, unlike the Tin Man clown from NY .
Maybe the message is that no matter who is elected president in the US, they all work for Wall Street…and only to a greater or lesser degree, they will benefit economically themselves. It will require a miracle to retain any semblance to the young experiment of democracy in America if we all bow down to the great GOD of Goldman Sachs.
One could make a good case that the real clowns are the ones who keep electing Goldman Sachs as President,even though he is nowhere on the ballot.
After just watching the last Obama press conference, and despite the education issues and others for which we have pilloried him, in retrospect I still admire Obama’s erudition, his careful and thoughtful examination of complex questions, his nuanced and informed use of language, and his personal gentlemanly value system.
The incoming President is the antithesis of our outgoing President…I will miss Obama.
So does this book firmly establish that Taibbi, at least, is not a “Trump troll”? So can we take his questioning of the “Russia hacked the election” and the “dossier” stories seriously without calling him a “Trump troll” or declaring that he must “have a crush on Putin”? Or is anyone who questions the official party line automatically a “Trump troll/Putin BFF” even if he’s published a book-length trashing of Trump?
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/something-about-this-russia-story-stinks-w458439
Taibbi did not discount the Russian hacking. Did you read the whole interview?
Dienne,
I am not going to endlessly discuss whether the Russians hacked into the DNC files. You seem to be the only person who wants a confession from Putin, hand delivered to you. Even Trump admitted that it was the case, even though it undermines his legitimacy.
Dienne:
Matt Taibibi: “… If any of this stuff about Russia is true, people need to do whatever they can to prevent him from becoming president, or at least try to get him impeached as quickly as possible.”
Right, the key word being “If”. Taibbi has also said “But if all they have are unverifiable rumors, they can’t do this, not even to Donald Trump.”
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/the-russia-story-reaches-a-crisis-point-w460806
My position exactly. If they have a case, make it. Otherwise, everything is just allegations and innuendoes, which is not how the American system of justice that I believe in works (and, yes, I know that’s not actually the system we have).
You and Trump agree. Until Putin admits hackin the DNC, don’t believe our government we lie. Putin tells the truth
Ther’s a very simple formula that the American media have followed for ages: circus acts sell.
One need look no further for a proximate cause in this case.
The media are a circus
So clowns are what we get
They really can’t deny this
They placed a losing bet
Pretending that the media are victims in all this is actually very funny
very funny. . .
. . . if folks realized how “funny” the lame stream media is.
“He said I don’t know man ah she kinda funny, you know
I said I know, everybody funny, now you funny too
So I go back home” GT&tDD.
Love that song.
Recipe for disaster:
One CNN, one Fox, one year
I’ve read Taibbi’s stuff before, especially “Divide,” VERY good analysis at how the system is set up for plutocrats and ensnares unfortunates and keeps them down. What we need is a documentary on the 2016 campaign and this would be a great title for it, even probably better if it was based on this. Hopefully, Taibbi is undergoing licensing and script talks as we speak.
In a sometimes contentious confirmation hearing, education secretary pick Betsy DeVos pledged that she would not seek to dismantle public schools amid questions by Democrats about her qualifications, political donations and long-time work advocating for charter schools and school choice.”
That isn’t true. DeVos completely dodged Murphy’s question on public schools.
I noticed something else at the hearing. Ed reformers have quietly moved the goalposts for charters.
When charters were sold in Ohio (by these same people) we were told they would be closed more easily than public schools. That was the deal. It’s what we got in exchange for the special treatment of charters as opposed to public schools. Charters had fewer duties but they could be closed easily.
They have quietly violated that deal. They now claim public schools should be treated the same as charters re: closure. That was not how they sold this to the public.
Important point you made, Chiara.
The original deal with charter schools was that they would close, unlike public schools, if they did not reach their targets. Autonomy in exchange for accountability. Now they have autonomy with no accountability.
Oh, they hit their targets, all right.
They hit the bulls eye: the public schools.
Charters hit their targets
They hit them in the eye
The public schools are markets
Where charters go to buy
Just planning ahead:
The Donald J. trump presidential Library